Michael Flynn's Blog, page 42

Elmira, 1895

In modest recompense for losing a month's work, I have learned that my short story, "Elmira 1895," has been accepted by ANALOG.

   He came with the night mail on the West Shore Line at just that moment when the world teetered between one day and the next.  Midnight is a magic time, the single instant when there is no present; only a receding past and an unrealized future.  He stood alone on the platform with his greatcoat and valise and watched the red lanterns of the caboose vanish into the night. 

Mega-bummer

http://tofspot.blogspot.com/2012/02/mega-bummer.html

Now, this is funny

Interview with a Flynn

Michael Ventrella has posted an interview with yr. obt. svt.

MICHAEL A. VENTRELLA: Today I am pleased to be interviewing Hugo-nominated author Michael Flynn. Mike and I met at the Greater Lehigh Valley Writer’s Group and have run across each other at Philcon and other conventions before, but we’ve never really had a conversation together, so this should resolve that.

Mike, what was your first big break into the business?

MICHAEL FLYNN: I entered a contest by Charlie Ryan, who was editor at the old Galileo magazine. It was for never-before published writers. So I wrote a story “Slan Libh,” about a fellow who has invented a time machine and decides to use it to feed his ancestors during the Irish Potato Famine.  continued here

m_francis @ 2012-01-28T23:34:00

The Commemoration of St. Thomas AquinasToday is the Commemoration of St. Thomas Aquinas, moved; and so in commemoration we will consider the manner in which he is misunderstood in the present day.

Some of this is due to a broader misunderstanding -- of the metaphysics of Aristotle.  Many terms of art, like "matter" and "motion," are used today in different senses than they were when he wrote, and so it happens that what he wrote is oft misread.

But TOF, you say, since we are talking about SF, what will be the SF connection?

Patience, my pretties.  All will become clear, for some values of "clear."

Read more »

Odds and Ends

Great Opening LinesJon Gibbs, a local writer here in the Valley, runs a blog called An Englishman in New Jersey, for the simple reason that he is.  He recently ran a contest called the Meager Puddle of Limelight Award for Best Opening Line. 
and announced the winners, which I think are worth sharing:
The goddamn robots were at it again (Beth Cato aka celestialgldfsh) The first words Henry Woods heard after his execution were, “You took long enough to get here."  (Elizabeth Hull aka darkspires) "Think of me as a time of year" whispered the raccoon, "like libraries in a late autumn afternoon." (Adrian Sterling aka raisinbottom) You're all alone here, alone among the dead.  (Phil Giunta aka pgiunta)  At the beginning, you see, Time had not yet come into being.  (Sue Stone aka knittingknots)Last night, I dreamed of the drowned man again.  (Christine Lucas aka silverwerecat)Miranda Lorensen was about to watch her brother die--again.  (Phil Giunta aka pgiunta)Nobody knew how and nobody knew why, but everywhere that Renee went the rain followed.  (Angela De Groot aka angeladegroot) The illustrious raisinbottom, who has graced us with his presence here on the LiveJournal version of this very blog and has in my own opinion the most outre of the opening lines.  Though truth to tell, I thought one of the non-finalists was pretty good:
I laid down on the tracks waiting for the 1:15 when a voice next to me said: Could you move up a bit?

If the job of an opening line is to get the reader to proceed to the second line, most of these do the trick most excellently.  
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More Odds and Ends below the cut

Weather Gods

The Weather Gods curse the book signing.

The Sweet Smell of Politics in the Air

Are Media People Stupid?I don't normally ask rhetorical questions, but I have been struck in recent weeks by "memes" such as the following:

following the Jan. 3 Iowa caucus, Romney, the former Massachusetts governor, was believed to have won the Hawkeye State event by 8 votes. More than two weeks later; however, the final certified tally showed Santorum finishing in first place.

Only once did I see a news account correctly note that Romney and Santorum merely won the same number of delegates to the next level of caucuses.

Musings are continued here

TOF at Boskone

TOF's Schedule at Boskone, as of today:

Saturday 10:00 - 11:00, Creating Alien Characters, Harbor I (Westin)
From the outside, how do we create alien species that are
not just giant X or sentient Y -- like big ants or smarter
cats? From the inside, how do we even conceive mentation
that is fundamentally nonhuman, rather than just like us
with an obsession for Z -- like money, honor, or status?
 Saturday 13:00 - 14:00, Kaffeeklatsche: Michael F. Flynn
Advance sign-up at Information required; limited to 10
 Saturday 15:00 - 16:00, Autographing: Michael F. Flynn,

Saturday 17:00 - 18:00, Return of the Stagirite -- or Aristotle's Revenge
Aristotle's notions are being resurrected with a fresh coat
of paint and a new label.

Sunday 10:00 - 10:30, Reading: Michael F. Flynn

Why the Future Never Gets the SF Right.

There is an essay of mine here Why the Future Never Gets the SF Right. 

Head on over and join in the discussion.